What is a blog?

The word "blog" is short for "Web log." A blog is a single Web page of text blurbs
or entries. A blog usually has a sidebar containing links, categories and archives.
The entries on a blog are organized in reverse-chronological order, which means when
the author adds a new entry, it goes at the top, pushing all the older entries down
and into the archives. Readers can search a blog and contribute to it by commenting
as a guest or a member. Originally serving as a publicly accessible personal journal
for an individual, blogs have become increasingly popular with institutions, such
as libraries, to enhance their services. The action of posting entries to a blog is
"blogging," and the one who does so is called a "blogger." The Internet invironment
for blogs to exist is known as "blogsphere," and a collection of links to other blogs
is nicknamed a "blogroll."

What is a podcast?

The word "podcast" is a portmanteau of Apple's iPod and broadcasting. A podcast is an MP3 audio file uploaded to a web server along with
an RSS file. The RSS file makes it possible for listeners to subscribe to podcasts using
one of several podcatching software or podcatchers like, Doppler, iTunes, Windows Media Player, and Yahoo! Music Engine with podcasting plugin. You can either listen to a podcast from your computer using one of the podcatchers
or download them to your MP3 players so you can listen to them at your convenience.
Since other MP3 players can also be used to download podcasts, efforts have been made
to redefine the word "podcasting." "Blogcasting" and "audioblogging" are two of the
early examples.

How do I read your Blogs?

Just click a link like this one as you do with an ordinary Web page. A blog is, in fact, a Web page with characteristics
as above mentioned. Or subscribe to it and read it in a blog reader. Popular internet browsers such
as Internet Explorer and Firefox can process blog feeds and become blog readers.

How do I listen to your podcasts?

Subscribe to a podcast feed so you can listen to it either using a podcatching software like iTunes on your computer or sync to a MP3 player such as iPod so you can listen on the go.

What is your blog's RSS?

Just type "feed" without the quotation marks behind our blog's URL. Our blog's URL
is http://library.blog.wku.edu and thus the RSS feed is http://library.blog.wku.edu/feed/. The same applies to all the permanent links of each of the blog entries. You can
get these permanent links by clicking on the headers of each blog entry.

What does this icon on your Podcast Web page mean?

This icon indicates a feed of our University Libraries' Podcast. You can subscribe
to it and listen to a podcast with your favorate podcatcher. You may also use the
pod-catcher to download the podcast to your favorite MP3 player. The MP3 player iPod works only with the podcatcher iTunes. Compatible with other pod-catching programs like Yahoo! Music Jukebox (formerly Yahoo! Music Engine), Doppler and Windows Media Player are other MP3 players. To subscribe to our podcast, click on the icon. Copy the URL
and paste it to your favorite pod-catching software's subscription window.

Why do you blog and podcast?

University Libraries always seeks to enhance its services with cutting-edge information
technologies. Blogs and podcasts give you more options to use our web-based resources
and services. They enable you to access our relevant Web content whenever and wherever
you want them.